As part of the Labour government’s approach to accelerating the transition to net zero, Miliband (Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero) has implemented a crackdown on new North Sea oil and gas activities.

Key elements include:

• A ban on issuing new exploration licences for standalone oil and gas fields.
• Allowing limited new drilling only as “tie-backs” to existing infrastructure/fields (confirmed in a November 2025 strategy paper titled the North Sea Future Plan).
• Maintaining or increasing taxes like the Energy Profits Levy (a windfall tax on producers, originally introduced in 2022 but extended/tightened under Labour).
• Emphasis on managing the basin’s natural decline while shifting focus to renewables, repurposing infrastructure, and protecting jobs through a “just transition.”

Miliband has repeatedly defended this by stating that additional North Sea production wouldn’t meaningfully lower household energy bills (since prices are set globally) and that the long-term security threat is climate change, not short-term supply issues.

Core criticisms in the piece

• Iran war fallout: Iranian missile strikes on Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG facility (which supplies ~20% of global LNG) have knocked out roughly 17% of Qatar’s export capacity, with effects expected to last up to five years. This has spiked global prices and supply risks. EnergyUK warns UK household bills could rise by £250 a year from July.
• Rising imports and emissions: Even if the UK hits net zero targets by 2035, it will still need ~40 million tonnes of oil and 30 billion cubic metres of gas annually. North Sea output is forecast to drop ~40% by 2050 (from 3.6 billion barrels to 2.1 billion), partly due to the policy. Imports (from Norway, US, Qatar, Australia LNG) are more expensive and have a higher carbon footprint — North Sea gas is ~15% lower-emission overall.
• Unexpected opposition: Critics now include:
  • Former Labour PM Sir Tony Blair (“climate theatre”).
  • Green-leaning figures like Octopus Energy bosses and RenewableUK (the offshore wind trade body).
  • Conservatives (Kemi Badenoch), Reform (Nigel Farage), and even Donald Trump (“big mistake”).
• Economic hits: Lost tax revenue, jobs, and energy security, while “leaving revenue in the ground.”

The piece concludes that Miliband’s “personal crusade” now appears “more destructive than ever,” isolating him even from former allies.

Miliband maintains that extra North Sea production would make no “material difference” to household bills (prices are set globally) or long-term supply. He frames the policy as essential for the “just transition,” arguing excessive fossil fuel dependence is the real long-term security risk. New licences wouldn’t meaningfully slow the basin’s natural decline or alter global markets.

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Miliband’s North Sea crackdown seems more senseless than ever

Iran war leaves Energy Secretary increasingly isolated on his ‘holy’ crusade against oil and gas

Ed Miliband and Donald Trump have never been political bedfellows. But on the North Sea, it is no longer just the American president who is at odds with the Energy Secretary.

As the war in the Middle East convulses global oil and gas markets, Labour’s crackdown on home-grown production is facing mounting opposition from all sides – including from people once sympathetic to Miliband’s net zero cause. The Telegraph has the story.

The Government’s ban on new drilling licences and its swingeing windfall tax have been blamed for crippling the UK’s domestic industry while also reducing tax revenues and pushing up carbon emissions.

It’s a self-inflicted blow that is now prompting opposition from surprising directions – leaving Miliband looking increasingly isolated.

Among those advocating a “drill, baby, drill” approach are not just Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, and Nigel Farage, the Reform leader, but also Sir Tony Blair, the former Labour prime minister – who has described the current position as “climate theatre”.

Within the energy industry, there are also calls for a more “pragmatic” approach from people who would normally be Miliband’s allies.

In recent weeks, even green energy evangelists – such as the bosses of Octopus Energy and wind farm trade body RenewableUK – have backed greater North Sea production.

“It puts Ed in a very tight spot,” says one energy industry executive.

The Energy Secretary insists that boosting domestic production is pointless because it cannot make a “material difference” and won’t bring down household energy bills. “Our reliance on fossil fuels is costing us,” he said in a recent interview.

Trump has attacked Britain’s strategy, saying the UK is making a “big mistake” by turning its back on the North Sea.

Yet at the heart of the debate are also questions about energy security, tax revenues, jobs and carbon emissions, issues that experts say have been relegated in the name of dogma.

After the outbreak of war in Iran plunged global energy supplies into chaos and with Britons facing up to the prospect of soaring household bills, Miliband’s personal crusade seems more destructive than ever.

Despite Miliband’s pledge to get Britain off the fossil fuel “rollercoaster”, oil and gas are set to remain a fixture of the country’s energy supplies for decades to come.

About 75pc of the UK’s primary energy still comes from oil and gas (70 million tonnes of crude oil and 65 billion cubic metres of gas) and this will take time to undo, with most of the existing demand stemming from transport and gas heating.

But even if the UK gets close to net zero by 2035, it will still consume nearly 40 million tonnes of oil and 30 billion cubic metres of gas.

Yet one key difference will be where it comes from. Over the next decade, imports are expected to rise steadily as domestic North Sea drilling finally runs out of steam.

Read the full story here.